The Library of Congress invites qualified scholars to apply for a post-doctoral fellowship in the field of health and spirituality. Made possible by a generous endowment from the International Center for the Integration of Health and Spirituality (ICIHS), the fellowship is named in honor of the Center’s late founder, David B. Larson, an epidemiologist and psychiatrist, who focused on potentially relevant but understudied factors which might help in prevention, coping, and recovering from illness.

The fellowship is designed to continue Dr. Larson’s legacy of promoting meaningful, scholarly study of these two important and increasingly interrelated fields. It seeks to encourage the pursuit of scholarly excellence in the scientific study of the relation of religiousness and spirituality to physical, mental, and social health. The fellowship provides an opportunity for a period of six to twelve months of concentrated use of the collections of the Library of Congress, through full-time residency in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center. The Kluge Center is located in the splendid Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library, and it furnishes attractive work and discussion space for its scholars as well as easy access to the Library’s specialized staff and to the intellectual community of Washington. If necessary, special arrangements may be made with the National Library of Medicine for access to its materials as well.

Applicant Eligibility

Applicants must by U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must possess a doctoral degree awarded by the deadline date. For the purposes of the Larson Fellowship, doctoral degrees include the Ph.D., M.D., Sc.D., Dr.P.H., D.S.W., P.Psy., D.S.T., Th.D., and J.D.

Tenure & Stipend

The fellowship is tenable for a period from six to twelve months, at a stipend of $4,200 per month, for residential research at the Library of Congress. Stipends will be paid monthly by the Library of Congress by means of electronic transfer to a U.S. bank account. Transportation arrangements and housing are the responsibility of the Fellow. The Library of Congress does not supply health insurance coverage but can provide contacts with commercial providers. If a Fellow becomes ill or injured during the term of appointment, there is no provision for health care.

Applications

Applicants must submit a formal application packet, including an application form, a two page curriculum vitae which should indicate major prior scholarship, a one paragraph project summary, a bibliography of basic sources, a research proposal of no more than 1,500 words, and three letters of reference (in English) from people who have read the research proposal. The research proposal must define those aspects the applicant wishes to study in the relationships of religiousness and spirituality to physical, mental, and social health. Research perspectives may begin with, but need not be limited to, medical, psychiatric, psychological, nursing, public health, religious, ministerial, legal, sociological, anthropological, or historical experience. Interdisciplinary or cross-cultural proposals are welcomed. Applicants should be prepared to indicate those Library of Congress collections they anticipate using. Among the collections available to researchers are the world’s largest law library and outstanding multi-lingual collections of books and periodicals. Deep special collections of manuscripts, maps, music, films, recorded sound, prints and photographs, are also available. Further information about the Library’s collections can be found on the Library’s website: http://www.loc.gov/rr/ .

Due Date

The application deadline is April 17, with the fellowship commencing anytime after September 1. Application materials must be post-marked by the deadline date to be considered. Applicants are urged to consider submitting their application materials online or by fax, to avoid any problems caused by mail delivery.

Expectations

The Larson Fellow is expected to develop research of a publishable quality. As a Kluge Center resident scholar, fellows are also expected to present a public seminar about their research, to participate actively in Kluge Center events and programs.

Contact Information

Completed application packets, questions, and other requests for information should be sent to the following address. Please note that containing mail delivery problems at the Library may require submitting the application packet by fax or email, to insure delivery by the deadline date: